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President and Mrs. Obama view their first joint portrait with artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby on June 14, 2026, in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. | Courtesy Obama Foundation DAYS BEFORE the Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to open in Chicago, Ill., the Obama Foundation unveiled the first official joint portrait of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The large-scale mixed media work by Los Angeles-based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby (b. 1983) memorializes the couple’s groundbreaking journey with personal references, historic symbols, and cultural touchstones. The commissioned portrait is on display in the Hope and Change Lobby of the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building. “The Obamas: Springing Forth” (2026) was revealed on June 14, when the Obamas viewed the portrait for the first time. The work captures the Obamas side-by-side in an interior space that loosely resembles the composition of the Oval Office in the White House. President Obama is perched on a desk in a dark blue suit and Mrs. Obama, wearing a deep ocean blue floral print dress with t-strap heels, is sitting close by in an arm chair. Based on a photograph Akunyili Crosby took of the Obamas, […]
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